And if you've turned in your
Bibles to the book of 2 Peter chapter 1, I want to read beginning
with verse 12, and read down through verse 16. The apostle Peter writes, Wherefore
I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of
these things. though ye know them, and be established
in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long
as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover, I will
endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these
things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his
majesty. And then I want to read verse
1 and 2 of chapter 3. This second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you in both, which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which
were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment
of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Then I have a passage
in the book of Hebrews chapter 2 that I wish to read. Hebrews
chapter 2. Therefore, verse 1, we ought
to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken
by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. Now if you have your Bible open
to 2 Peter chapter 1, I wanted to try to give an exposition of
these verses which would maybe prepare our hearts for a review
of what we heard here in the last
week. The Apostle Peter begins by saying
in verse 12, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always
in remembrance of these things. And I do believe that it would
be negligent on my part if I were not to review these things with
you as a body, the things that we've heard. Now it is required,
the scripture says, in stewards that they be found faithful.
Peter would not be negligent. We do not want to be negligent. We want to be faithful unto the
Lord as God's steward. We want to provide that which
God would have us provide for the edification and the up-building
and the strengthening of his church, of his people. But he
said this, I will put you always in remembrance of these things,
though you know them. Though you know them. You already
know these things, and therefore we're not, and Peter is not. He is saying that they that know
the most about the gospel, they that know the most about the
holy word of God, those that know the most about the kingdom
of God, they know but in part and they may have their knowledge
increased by it being called to their remembrance over and
over again, the message being called to their remembrance.
And those that are the most established in the truths of the gospel may
be confirmed yet more and more. Brethren, what I'm saying is
that we can grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ by going over and over again the message of truth that
was proclaimed to us by these brethren that came by the will
of God to this place. And we want to be honest with
God. We want to draw out of the Word
all that we can. knowing that our knowledge can
indeed be increased, and knowing that we can be confirmed more
and more in those things which we believe. Now, Peter was not
suggesting that these to whom he was writing were ignorant
of the truth or that they were unstable in the truth. He wasn't suggesting that at
all. He was saying that these people knew the truth. They knew the truth. They had
heard the truth. They had been established in
the truth, in the present truth, he said. This truth of God which
is present truth. And so don't think that I'm saying
you weren't listening when the brethren were preaching. I'm
not saying that at all. I'm not saying that you wouldn't
pay any attention. I'm not saying that you were
asleep. I'm not saying that. I'm saying
that it's important that we go over these things, as Peter said,
and that we put you in remembrance of these things. Now he speaks
here of the present truth. And what he means by this is
the whole scheme of the gospel which had now been revealed in
opposition to the exhibition of it under the former dispensation
by promise and types. What he's saying is the gospel
has been revealed in its entirety. We believe that the Bible is
a complete revelation of God. We do not believe there will
be any other revelations given. We believe that the body of scripture
is complete, and the present truth had been revealed in apostolic
times to the apostles. This present truth, it means
it's always now, it means it's new, and it means it's fresh. It's always new, and it's always
fresh. Regardless of how many times
you put remembrance of it, It's always new and it's always fresh. It's now. It's truth that deals
with now, not dealing with the ages gone by. It's truth that
we deal with every day in the now. We need to hear and reiterate,
go over these things, and we need that we would be able to
get these things well fixed in our hearts, that we would be
able to live on these things. Because a man, he lives by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We live on the Word of
God. We live on the Word of God by
faith. We believe the Word, we believe what we've heard, and
we believe this Word and we shall put it into practice. So this
is a new and fresh message regardless of how many times you've been
reminded of it. Now then, he goes on to say in
the next verse, yea, he says yes. He says, I think it meet. Now this word meet here means
just. I think it is just. Or, I think
it is becoming to me, Peter said. to him as an apostle and an elder,
he said, this is becoming to me, that I remind you, that I
bring this to your remembrance, that I bring the word of God
and the truth of the word to your heart over and over. And
what was, he says, this was what I should do, this is what was
becoming to me as an apostle and an elder, and what was due
to God and to Christ. This was due to God in Christ
that I remind you and that I teach you over and over and bring to
your remembrance present truth. And so he says, and also he says
this was due to you, these souls he was speaking to that were
under his care. He said this is meat that I do
this for your sake, for your benefit. Now you know we would
like to get all the good out of these meetings that we can.
We'd like to get all the good out of every meeting we can.
We need to hear over and over again the message of the gospel
and we need to be established in these truths and we need to
be able to listen and to be able to draw from what we hear in
order that we would grow up and to the stature of the measure
of the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know God is in the
process of conforming us to the image of His Son, and this will
come to pass by our hearing and re-hearing of the Word. We need to be like the Lord Jesus
Christ. We need to hear His Gospel, and
we need to make application of that Gospel to our hearts, regardless
of how many times we hear it. So, Peter said, it's becoming
to me, as an apostle, that I do this for God and Christ's sake,
and for your sake. It is me that I do this. Now
he says, as long as I live in this tabernacle, as long as I'm
in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance,
as long as I'm in this tabernacle, and he means by that as long
as I'm alive in this body. As long as I'm alive in this
body, Peter said, it is right that I remind you that I'll bring
to your remembrance what you have been established in and
what you have been taught before. Now the body is the tabernacle
that he's speaking of. He's speaking of his body. Shortly, he says, I must put
off my tabernacle even as the Lord Our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed
me, knowing that shortly I must put off this my time. This is
something I know I'm going to die. pretty soon. And this is
a weighty business, a weighty purpose that I have and I must
be at it. I must be at it because I know
that I will shortly put off this, my tabernacle. So he urges the
exhortation and he urges the responsibility that he has upon
himself He knew he had but a little time and therefore he must be
about this business. Now you say, well how did Peter
know that he was going to die? How did he know? Well, thirty
years before, he had, the Lord Jesus had told him basically
that he was going to die when he became an old man back in
John 21 and verse 18 and 19. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself,
and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou
shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee,
and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying
by what death? He should glorify God, and when
he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Now, the
Lord Jesus said, when you're young, you just go where you
want to, and you put on what you want to wear, and you go
where you want. You just walk wherever you would.
But when you're old, then you'll stretch forth your hands, and
another shall gird you and carry you where you would not." Now
we believe according to history that Peter was crucified upside
down on a cross, him feeling that he was not worthy to die
as his Lord died. And therefore, we do know that
Peter suffered death according to the prophecy of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he was tied on a cross, and
he was carried where he would not be, and the cross put into
the socket of the earth, and he died. And the Lord Jesus said,
I speak these words to you signifying by what death you would glorify
me. And then when he had spoken these
words, he said, Peter, don't dwell on it, follow me. And Peter
followed the Lord for 30 years after this, basically, as far
as what we can tell, before he was taken out of this world.
But here in 2 Peter, Peter was an old man. And so therefore
he is saying to us here that I must put off this my tabernacle
shortly, knowing that shortly, just in a while, I must put it
forth. Now he sets forth his death in
a very easy and a very familiar way, it being not at all terrible
and distressing to him. He knew that he was going to
die and the scripture says that the living know that they shall
die. And you all know that you're
going to die. None of us here know anything.
about when we're going to die. That is, in God's hands, every
breath must be given to us by a sovereign God, and we live
as long as God purposes, and there's no need to sit around
and fool around and dwell on it and get yourself all in a
tizzy over it. We might as well follow the Lord
Jesus Christ, obey Him, do His will in our life the best we
can until the time comes on God's calendar that we're to be taken
out of this world. So therefore, Peter speaks of
his death in a very easy and familiar way. and he is not terrified
and distressed by it. It was like, to him, like putting
off a garment or unpinning, as John Gill said, of a tabernacle. Like moving from a tent to a
palace. He said, my death's coming up
and I'm going to move from this tent, this tabernacle, I'm going
to move to a palace. Now the saints of God, as we
all know, are pilgrims here in this world. And here we dwell
in tents and tabernacles. We are dwelling in a body, which
is described by Paul in 2 Corinthians, I believe it is, chapter 5. as
being a tent, and so this tent is coming down, and this tabernacle,
we'll lay it aside. And in death, they will remove,
the children of God, the saints of God, they will remove to their
own country, us being not citizens of this country, because in Philippians,
Paul sets forth the fact that we're citizens of that heavenly
country. citizens of another country.
And the saints of God are going to be removed from this to their
own country. And they will be removed from
their house here into their Father's house above. All God's people,
the Lord Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you, and
if I go and prepare a place, I will come again, receive you
unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. In my
Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. So the Father has many mansions, and the Lord's people
are going to move from here to the Father's house. We're all
going home to the Father's house. Now then, the soul does not die
with the body. It removes from this world to
another, from a cottage to a kingdom as it were. The body is like
a tabernacle put off or taken down, which will be put together
again, get it, get it, which will be put together again in
better order than it is now. Is that alright? Thanks be unto
God. These old bodies are going to
be put together in better order than they are now. That's the
hope that we have as the Lord's people. So this is the way and
one of the reasons why behind why that Peter is going to remind
and bring to the remembrance of the people under him, the
sheep under him, these things that he knows to be truth. Now then, Moreover, he says in
verse 15, I will endeavor that you may be able after my deceased
to have these things always in remembrance. In other words,
I hope, Peter says, to be able to, as I write these things down,
that I will leave them for you in a body of scripture that you
might have these things always and also that I might so preach
them to you And so instruct you in these things that you will
always have them in remembrance, that you will remember them.
You know, one of the things that I believe with all my heart is
that in the dying hour, one of the great consolations, one of
the great comforts for the Lord's people And I've read deathbed
stories. Consider, I have a book, an old
book at home that describes the death of many, many of God's
people. And it has been very enlightening
to me. And beloved, it shows, and their
testimony shows that they are acquainted with the Word of God,
that they knew the Word, that they knew the Gospel, that they
understood the Gospel. And beloved, if you want to die
well, then you need to remember the words of Scripture, you need
to memorize the Word of God, and you need to have it in your
heart, fixed in your heart. You remember David made the statement
one time, he said, Thy Word have I hid in my heart. that I might
not sin against thee. Well, beloved, the practice of
David was to hide the Word in his heart. And you and I need
to hide the Word of God in our hearts. We need it in here in
order that we can draw from it in the hour of our departure
from this world. Now he goes on to show in verse
16, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. In
other words, we've not been following fables. We've not been teaching
you fables. We've not been expounding upon
fables. We've been expounding on the
Word of God, the body of Scripture that was given to us by holy
men of God who spake as they were moved in old time by the
will of God, not by the will of man. Holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. That's verse 21 of this
same chapter. They were moved. These men were
moved by God. They speak as God gave them the
word to speak. And the scripture, all scripture,
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for correction,
for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect,
that he may grow up and be mature in the faith of the gospel. Alright,
so we've not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
spoke out of the prophets, spoke out of the, well I like the statement,
the gospel of Isaiah. because I believe that's one
of the great prophecies of our substitute, our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so he spoke out of the scriptures
of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also of
those who were eyewitnesses. You remember the scripture speaks
in one place of there being over 500 brethren that saw the Lord
Jesus. after he was resurrected and
they could speak. They were our witnesses that
the Lord Jesus came out of the grave and that God raised him
up. And you know one of the great
points of the gospel is that God raised his son from the dead
and that through the raising of his son from the dead gave
us a receipt showing that he had accepted the sacrifice which
the Lord Jesus made on our behalf, and that the debt was cancelled,
and that our sins was remitted. And so the empty tomb means that
our debt is cancelled. God accepted what Jesus did on
our behalf, and our debt is paid. And so then, isn't it wonderful
that we have the Scriptures, have the Word of God, and that
we can go back and we can look again and again at the Word of
God and have these truths to flood our souls regardless of
how many times they're called to our memory. We can have the
benefit of them. Now in chapter 3, I read these
two verses where Peter said the second epistle, Beloved, I now
write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by
the way of remembrance. Now he says in this verse, he
says, I stir up your pure minds by the way of remembrance. We
will say just briefly that no man's mind is pure by nature.
No man's mind is pure by nature. A man's mind, after it's washed
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, his conscience purged
from dead works by the blood of Jesus, after he has been reconciled
to God, And then, beloved, his mind can be spoken of as to be
pure from the standpoint that God has owned him and that he
has been transformed and that he has been regenerated by the
Spirit of God and that the new man Christ dwells in him. And Paul made this statement
in Corinthians. He says, we have the mind of
Christ. And the mind of Christ, would
you all agree, is a pure mind. Is a pure mind. And so believers
have a pure mind. But he said, in both which I
stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. A pure mind,
yes, needs to be stirred up and things need to be brought to
the memory of one who has a pure mind. So let us, beloved, be
about this, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken
before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us the
apostles of the Lord and Savior, that ye may be mindful, that
ye may be mindful of these things. And that is the end to which
we want to reflect and that is the end to which we desire to
be able to just go over and to give the thrust of the messages
that were brought to us. These brethren, they studied
and they worked hard at getting their messages together and I
believe that by the enablement of the Holy Ghost they brought
these messages to us and that this was no small blessing that
God sent our way. Now then next week what I will
do